Adherents of a healthy diet and lifestyle, without hesitation, can name products that positively affect our body. Among them: fresh gifts of nature - vegetables and fruits, as well as salads, dried fruits, whole grain bread, cereals, nuts and many other useful “goodies”. What unites them? Plant origin and low calorie content. In addition, they are all rich in mysterious fiber.
Plant fiber or fiber is the shell of the cells of vegetables and fruits, cereals and legumes, nuts and seeds. Why do we value this natural invention? A deficiency of plant fibers causes constipation, which leads to powerful intoxication of the body. The skin deteriorates under the influence of poisons, rashes and peeling on it become commonplace, hair falls out, nails break ... Nutritionists have revealed the most important advantage of fiber: this component of plant foods is not digested by humans. Its main property turned out to be extremely important for normalizing vital functions: coarse dietary fibers, like a washcloth, cleanse the intestines from the inside, improving peristalsis of the “purgatory”, protecting the area of the small intestine from the corrosive action of enzymes. In dietetics, plant fiber is an integral component of both therapeutic and healthy nutrition.
The complex of dietary fiber polysaccharides scientists are divided into soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber is the stiffened cell membrane, lignin and cellulose. This substance is almost unchanged, like a sponge, passes throughout the digestive tract, absorbs liquid, increasing in volume, removes toxins and acids, then empties the intestines. It is found in many vegetables, fruits, as well as in crops, legumes and cereals.
Soluble fiber is a natural gel-like substance: pectins, resins, alginase and helicellulose. Once in the stomach and in contact with the liquid, it turns into jelly. Its low-calorie composition allows you to magically stay satiated for a long time without harming the figure. A very common drug is such fiber in tablets and capsules for weight loss. An effective decrease in appetite is the result of swelling of the jelly-like substance and filling the stomach with it.
Is there always a need to take pills and capsules? Natural fiber in products: berries, beans, citrus fruits, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, beets, apples, is a natural “golden key” consisting of soluble dietary fiber.
Any fiber requires the daily intake of water: at least one and a half to two liters. Liquid deficiency leads to the retention of beneficial fibers in the intestine and the loss of part of their adsorbing properties.
For the healthy functioning of the body, nutritionists advise to include both types of fiber: soluble and insoluble in the diet. Their ratio should be 3: 1, that is, ¾ of the diet should be insoluble fiber, and ¼ - soluble.
Weight loss with the help of healthy dietary fiber is due to the normalization of the digestive tract flora, its filling and slowing down the absorption of simple and complex carbohydrates, as well as fats. In addition, fiber eliminates the harmful excess cholesterol. Foods containing it in large quantities are rich in vitamins and natural antioxidants, while they are depleted in lipids and calories.
Insoluble fiber is a component of bran and
whole grains, peel of fruits and root crops, dark green vegetables and salads, nuts and seeds. A rich source of her soluble “girlfriend” are zucchini, broccoli, apples, beans (white and red), grapefruits, oranges, prunes, grapes, bread from various grains.
Fiber is a panacea that helps to maintain in the digestive tract, blood sugar, heart and blood vessels. So, your health will be preserved for many years!